Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles  Mr. Speaker, as is the tradition of the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, he has been stonewalling and Canadians will not stand for it. The government has not done any favours for immigrants. It should practise what it preaches and stand by a zero tolerance policy a

Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles  Mr. Speaker, we often hear members of that minority government say that Canada was built by immigrants. It is now obvious the Prime Minister does not have the courage to stand up for immigrants, particularly those who have chosen Quebec as their home. This is scandalous and it mu

Government Accountability  Mr. Speaker, Canadians were not impressed yesterday with the antics of the President of the Treasury Board. The holier than thou minister was caught at the trough last spring, forking out a fat cheque to the Prime Minister's friend, Marie-Josée Lapointe, of all things for PR on

Canada Elections Act  Mr. Speaker, in theory, fixed election dates are very good. However, Bill C-16 has not taken into consideration what constitutes confidence. If we look at the general history we know that confidence motions are on the Speech from the Throne or a finance bill. Within the current e

National Aboriginal Day  Mr. Speaker, in recognition of National Aboriginal Day I wish to take this opportunity to remind the Conservative government of its moral obligation to the first nations in this country and to uphold the historic Kelowna accord that was reached last fall between our aboriginal pe

Firearms Registry  Mr. Speaker, data from Statistics Canada indicates that 85% of spousal homicides occur in private residences and a shocking 71% of the firearms used in spousal homicides are, in fact, long guns. Why is the Minister of Public Safety removing long guns from the firearm registry? W

Firearms Registry  Mr. Speaker, in spite of the misinformation being spread by the minister, the fact is the gun registry works. Why is the minister continuing to ignore the advice of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, the Canadian Professional Police Association, victims' organizations

Government Policies  Mr. Speaker, here is a list of additional Liberal ideas that the Conservatives have endorsed: Tabling Bill C-14, an act to amend the Citizenship Act with respect to adoption, a Liberal bill. Launching the off campus work permit program for foreign students, based on the success

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is right. Statistics from the justice department indicate that 71% of spousal homicides involved rifles and long guns. As I stated, Bill C-10 is a hastily crafted bill. It has not been well thought through. It has the sniff of politics rather than g

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, mandatory minimum sentences are already in existence and Bill C-10 is a haphazard attempt to bring in politics rather than good policy. My constituents and the area of Toronto are very concerned about how we address the issue of crime, youth being involved in violent

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to address Bill C-10, an act to amend the Criminal Code with respect to minimum penalties for offences involving firearms. All Canadians should take an interest in this proposed legislation because a safe and secure quality of life is something we all de

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for her analysis of Bill C-9. She mentioned that conditional sentencing has conditions set before a judge who can lay down the sentence. It is a preventative tool and prevention is very important. The previous Liberal governmen

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, the bill looks at extreme cases such as sexual assault with a weapon and it also looks at mail theft and computer theft. It mixes and meshes many things. It is not a very thoughtful bill. It has been very hastily constructed. If the bill goes to committee, it is impo

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, like the accountability bill, this bill will have a charter challenge and I thank the member for bringing it to the attention of the House. It will create more confusion in the system, more negotiations, et cetera, if it ever were to go through. If the bill is uncons

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, statistics show that aboriginal people already make up an inappropriate amount of the population in prisons compared to that of the general public. Traditional justice and sentencing circles have been used in Saskatchewan. They have been more effective than putting t